Dying for a Hearing: Do People Really Die While Waiting on a Social Security Hearing?

Unfortunately, the answer to this questions is “yes”. The October
edition of Social Security Forum published by NOSSCR (National Organization
of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives) states Social Security’s
wait time for a hearing before a judge is hitting an all-time high with
each passing month. NOSSCR has requested specific information from Social
Security about the number of claimants that die while waiting for a hearing.
The response received from the agency was 7,897 such claimants died between
9/26/15 and 9/1/16. This is practically 23 claimants per day or almost
one per hour. (Currently, there is more than 1.1 million claims awaiting
a hearing with a Social Security judge.)

Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently
published a report outlining the average claimant who died while awaiting
a hearing was approximately 50 years old and had waited 403 days for a
hearing following the filing of the request. Causes of death included
mostly terminal illnesses, suicide, but also accidents. (Keep in mind,
by the time someone files a Request for Hearing, this person will have
already been through two levels of denial lasting approximately 12-18
months. There’s the initial application and denial, then a reconsideration
request and denial, and then the Request for Hearing is filed. So, the
total wait time from the time of filing the initial application is more
like 950 days or just over 2.5 years.

There is a process for red flagging a case when a claimant has a terminal
illness. These cases are labeled “TERI” cases and are supposed
to receive expedited processing. But, obviously this doesn’t fix
the problem. The OIG report provides that as of March, 2016, there were
1090 claimants whose cases had received this designation and that they
had waited an average of 189 days for a hearing. Of these terminal cases,
63 of them had passed away while waiting. This OIG report is entitled
“Characteristics of Claimant’s in the Social Security Administration’s
Pending Hearings Backlog” and is available for public inspection at
https://oig.ssa.gov/sites/default/files/audit/full/pdf/A-05-16-50207.pdf.

Why does one have to wait so long to get a hearing in a Social Security
disability case? Especially those that have been designated as having
a terminal illness? The answer given by most of the judges and staff members
is that funding is not adequate to hire the judges or staff attorneys
needed to process cases quicker. But, maybe there is a more efficient
way for Social Security to handle claims designated as a “TERI”
case? Surely, there’s a faster way to decide a case involving a
terminal illness without the need to wait for a hearing.

Out of fairness, Social Security does have programs that expedited the
processing of claims other than the TERI designation. There is also the
Compassionate Allowance Program for certain types of illnesses and the
Quick Disability Determination Process where SSA uses a predictive computer
modeling program to analyze an electronic folder for certain factors that
show high probability for being found disabled. The success to which each
of these programs has helped with the backlog of cases is unknown, but
we do know people still die while waiting on a Social Security disability hearing.

Or, feel free to contact the disability attorneys with Syfrett, Dykes &
Furr. It is extremely important to consult with an experienced attorney
before attending the Social Security hearing you have waited on for so
long. We can review your records and help you put together the type of
information that best proves your claim. Call for a free consultation
(850) 795-4979.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.

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